Tag: mindset

For some of us, it’s not just hard, but hard to deal with. We somehow missed out on the classes that allowed us to develop healthy coping mechanisms, and failed the entire semester of confidence building.

Negativity, like a pirate’s parrot, sits on our shoulders and whispers into our ears all of our failures and shortcomings. Its squawk grows louder with each perceived validating circumstance, and we’re sent onto a path of growing and towering negativity.

Our negativity is grown layer by layer, as this well in Italy was…

This cycle is all too familiar to me. Even now, when I’ve committed consciously to being more positive, I fall into the gaping hole that is negativity. It’s easy to do, and so hard to get out of once we’ve fallen.

When one is a witch, these holes can turn into a loss of confidence in our craft. With witchcraft, a certain amount of faith is constantly being balanced between the two realms of logic and belief. Unless you happen to be one of the lucky few who can completely suspend the former in favor of the latter, there will be days- if not weeks, and months- when the chasm of negativity will swallow you whole.

It’s a never ending cycle…

This creates a vacuum of perpetuity in our craft. When we do not believe in our power, we sacrifice it. When we believe the negative, we attract it. Like a tornado, the two fight for their rightful place, drawing you up with them.

What can this look like? It can be as simple as creating a prosperity spell, while doubting its efficacy, and feeling resigned (and righteous) when it fails. The energy we create cannot tell the difference between our belief and our doubt. It sees our doubt (which is our true feelings of the moment) as our desire, and it grants it. We don’t think it will happen, so it doesn’t.

Then, we take this to mean that we have lost our power. Or for some, a reason to believe we never had it to begin with. It compounds exponentially until not only are we not creating what we desire, we’re attracting the exact opposite of what we desperately want.

By focusing on the negative beliefs, or the disbelief in ourselves, we tell the Universe that that is what we’re looking for.

Think of it as being completely colorblind. Everything is black and white. If not for the positions of the lights on a stoplight- we would not know whether it was green or red. This is how the Universe sees our energy, unlike the stoplight which has set positions to determine the colors’ places for us, it cannot distinguish between positive or negative, it just reciprocates in kind.

Therefore, the questions remain: what exactly are we attracting, how can we better attract what we want- and how does it all effect my magick?

The first part is easy. If you can look around your life and see nothing but negative- I’m sorry to say, but that’s what you’ve been attracting. It has nothing to do with fairness, or whether or not you deserve it, and everything to do with your attitude (or focus) about the things you see. Thinking, constantly, about how overwhelmed by your life you are, or how you’re stressed, sick, angry, hurt, jealous, or even simply unsatisfied, will send the Universe a signal that you want those things. And, since the mechanisms of the Universe are very simple and obliging, it will send you those things. Simply stop focusing on the negative- change the lens in which you view things! See the positive aspects of your life, even if they’re hard to find at first, and be grateful for them. Finding gratitude for everything we’ve taken for granted while focusing on the positive is a huge step toward attracting more to be grateful for.

For example, I got sick recently with a really bad stomach virus. Instead of focusing on how awful I felt, I was grateful for how much energy I still had. Instead of focusing on how much pain I was in, I focused on being grateful that my son didn’t catch it. It may not seem like much, but every little thought attracts more like it. Soon, I was up and feeling great, and no one else in my family had to go through what I did! All positives!

The second question, however, takes some practice. The biggest hurdle, in my experience, is becoming consciously aware of not only our focus, but our inner voice. There is a little voice, inside us all, that is in perpetual judgement of our circumstances. It tells us how we look in the mirror, how that dinner last night tasted, whether or not we’re loved by our friends, and even if we deserve that promotion. It’s subtle when we’re not listening closely, but it’s there. You can find it easily if you look because it usually comes with the word “…but…”

I loved that dress…but…[I looked fat in it].I love my husband…but…[he is being distant lately].I want that new car…but…[I can’t afford it].

These little words seem harmless enough, but they’re actually huge barriers we’re putting between us and our desires. The new car is a desire, but we’ve just limited the Universe providing it by focusing negatively on our financial status. The Universe can’t tell that you want the car if it sees that you believe you can’t afford it, and will perpetuate that cycle- because that’s the what you’ve given it to work with.

Working past this little voice takes time. However, the more you listen to it, the more you can actively correct it with a louder, more positive voice. This voice will replace the “…but…” with a resounding “AND!”

I loved that dress AND! I looked great in it!I love my husband AND! I appreciate him doing the dishes tonight!I want that new car AND! I’ll get it in blue!

It might not seem like a huge change (and in reality, it isn’t at once) but the shift in your attitude is significant enough to allow more positivity to find you. “Positive begets positive.” Not seeing everything through the lenses of negativity allows you to be happier, too.

Take off those shade, Corey, and focus on the positive!

Now, for us witches, this goes a step further. Now we’ve been given proof, veritably, that our thoughts manipulate energy and bring us what we want. Yet, we still must tackle the feat of choosing belief over limitations.

It’s still that little voice, except instead of using just the word “…but…” like in other areas of your life, it’s changed its tune to “…but how?” in your witchcraft.

For us witches, we create spells- which are, in my opinion, simply amplified or focused magicks for a designated intention. These spells come with a certain modicum of confidence on our parts. We intend something to happen, create an amplified focus, and send our energy out into the Universe. The intention is consciously positive, our focus is consciously positive, and our energy sent is, you guessed it, consciously positive. We sit back, waiting for the Universe to reciprocate, and then, that voice comes sneaking in from the back door, whispering its lies to us.

I want more income…but how? I want to find love…but how?I need to ground myself…but how?

So, instead of now focusing on the spell, or the intention behind the spell, our thoughts have shifted to the doubt of the future, while placing limitations on how the things we want can be provided to us, because we’ve switched from belief to logic (which has its place in witchcraft, surely, but not in our spellwork).

Will I have to work two jobs to get more income? Will Jeff finally give me that raise that I deserve? How will my income increase?

But how will I find love? Will it be at work? Will it be at a bar? Will it be Tony from marketing?

The doubt erases all the positive energy and confidence you sunk into the spell, and now sends a clear signal to the Universe that, in fact, you’d like to rescind your application- you were just kidding.

See, when you create a spell, you cannot go into it with any sense of doubt. You have to know it will work. And honestly, this takes time. It takes a whole bunch of faith in not only yourself, but your craft, to believe that what you want is something you deserve to have. (Are you listening? YOU DESERVE WHAT YOU DESIRE!)

A very scientific flow chart for you…

When we focus on the knowledge that our spells will work, it opens up the door for the Universe to start pulling on a whole bunch of threads (like I’ve mentioned before about the String Theory) that you haven’t even thought of to bring it to fruition.

Your doubt when it comes to the income revolves around your current situation. But, if you removed those limitations, you might find that screw, Jeff and his shoddy raise, Karen at your dream job finally got around to seeing your resume and they’d love to hire you!

The doubt about your love spell brings about confusing and terrible relationships, while limiting the ability of the Universe to work for you- placing Tony, who has a cheating problem, directly in your path. Instead of it happening in any way that you could fathom, when complete belief is handed over the spell, it might look like a flat tire bringing about a Good Samaritan who happens to be your soul mate.

In order to create magick, and manipulate energies- we must not only be POSITIVE in our thinking, we must REMOVE DOUBT from our mind.

My favorite phrase is one I read somewhere a long time ago: The How is not important, it is the What that we want.

We don’t care if we meet our future spouses at a craft fair, or the movies, (READ: THE HOW) we just want to meet them, fall in love, and start our lives together.

We don’t care how our income increases, as long as it’s legal and secure.

The how our spell manifests is unimportant. And, in all honesty, too complicated for us to measure anyway. It is the want or the intention that is important.

But how do we do this?! I’ll give you this one, simply because I’m not the Universe (or am I?) and I can discern between what you want and what you don’t want.

We believe it as if it’s already happened without putting limitations on it. This is best done through feelings, instead of direct thoughts. That love spell you sent up, feel those butterflies that are inevitable when you’re in love. That money spell, feel the ease of living comfortably. Sink into the feelings of your granted intention as if the Universe has already provided the means to feel them. This not only solidifies your belief in the spell, but it provides a great foundation for reciprocation by the Universe. It sees your butterflies, knows what exactly what you want, and raises you a first date with a wonderful companion that blossoms into the real thing.

It’s all about removing doubt, witches.

As long as we’re practicing responsibly, while asking for our truest intentions (which best serve us), there should never be a reason to doubt ourselves or our craft. We are Witches, and we are powerful.

It can be hard, but, it is possible to have complete and utter faith in not only yourself but the Universe, or whatever you choose to call your connection; seek gratitude, edit that small voice penetrates your every thought, and believe with feelings. You’ll begin to see small changes, and you will create (and attract) larger ones which will in turn attract even large positive changes. Coincidence starts adding up to actual magick, as they begin to pile all around you like abundant little dominoes of good luck, and soon, your belief is not only threaded into the fabric of your life (and your positive mindset), it’s infallible.

Believe me, it only takes a few “Holy SHIT! I wanted that and this, this, and this randomly fell into place to bring it to me!” before you begin to understand how much power you truly have- which, in all honesty, works in tandem with you to remove the doubt for you.

But you have to want it. You have to work for it. And you have to pull yourself out of that gaping hole of negativity, one gritty rung at a time if need be, if you want to see change. Otherwise, you will continue to only see those dark walls surrounding you grow in size as you attract each brick used to bury you, and your magick. You are your mindset.

Me, after I’ve climbed out of my pit of negativity. Image credit: Colourbox